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Chem. Senses 29: 127-135, 2004
© Oxford University Press 2004

Different Thresholds for Detection and Discrimination of Odors in the Honey bee (Apis mellifera)

Geraldine A. Wright and Brian H. Smith

Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA

Correspondence to be sent to: Department of Entomology, 318 West 12th Ave, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. e-mail: wright.571{at}osu.edu

Naturally occurring odors used by animals for mate recognition, food identification and other purposes must be detected at concentrations that vary across several orders of magnitude. Olfactory systems must therefore have the capacity to represent odors over a large range of concentrations regardless of dramatic changes in the salience, or perceived intensity, of a stimulus. The stability of the representation of an odor relative to other odors across concentration has not been extensively evaluated. We tested the ability of honey bees to discriminate pure odorants across a range of concentrations at and above their detection threshold. Our study showed that pure odorant compounds became progressively easier for honey bees to discriminate with increasing concentration. Discrimination is, therefore, a function of odorant concentration. We hypothesize that the recruitment of sensory cell populations across a range of concentrations may be important for odor coding, perhaps by changing its perceptual qualities or by increasing its salience against background stimuli, and that this mechanism is a general property of olfactory systems.

Key words: coding, concentration, discrimination, honey bee, invariance, olfaction


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